10+ Easy Ways To Say Happy Birthday In Dutch

6 min readMay 29, 2022

Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/nl/happy-birthday-in-dutch/

Birthdays are a BIG deal in the Netherlands, so you’ll want to know how to say happy birthday in Dutch. Birthdays are celebrated with family and friends with unique traditions. In Dutch culture, celebrating a birthday is very important. In fact, it’s so important that the Dutch people keep birthday calendars so that no one ever forgets to wish happy birthday to anyone.

Want to impress your Dutch friends? Fortunately, various words and phrases are used to say happy birthday in Dutch. Let’s learn more about it today!

10 Ways To Wish Someone A Happy Birthday In Dutch

Are you planning to visit for the first time to Netherlands, Belgium, or Suriname? Learning the basic greetings like this can certainly help you out. Greeting someone with a “happy birthday” in Dutch isn’t the typical way of greeting the birthday person. Instead, a variation of Dutch words and phrases are used in the Netherlands to congratulate people on their birthdays.

1. Congratulations

The first birthday greeting to learn and the most simple way to wish someone from the Netherlands a happy birthday is, “Gefeliciteerd! — [Ghe-fu-lu- si- teert],” which translates roughly as, “Congratulations!”

This word comes from the original Dutch birthday greeting, “Gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag” — [ Ghe-fu-lu- si- teert-met-ge-veer-yar-da] which means, “Congratulations on your birthday.”

Nowadays, it’s more common to use “Gefeliciteerd!” when wishing a happy birthday and this greeting is used to congratulate the birthday person, their family, and the host of the birthday celebration.

2. Have A Nice Birthday

Another way to wish someone well on their birthday is to say, “Ik hoop dat je een fijne verjaardag hebt!” — [Ick-hope-dat-je-ine-fine-veer-yar-da-heb] means, “I hope you have a nice birthday!”

This birthday phrase can make good wishes to pretty well anyone.

3. Happy Returns And Good Health

Next up is a more formal way to communicate birthday well-wishes. This Dutch phrase is more appropriate for elders or wishing happy birthdays to your employer on their special day. “Nog vele jaren in goede gezondheid.” — [Nokh fayle yaar-un in khoo-der kher-zont-heit] expresses, “Many happy returns in good health.”

4. Good Luck On Your Birthday

Another way to wish someone a pleasant birthday in Dutch is to say, “Gelukkige verjaardag.” — [kher-luh-kikh-ge fer-yaar- dakh]. This birthday phrase’s translation is roughly “Have a lucky birthday.”

5. Have An Enjoyable Day

You may want to skip the ‘happy birthday’ part altogether and simply greet the birthday person with, “Een prettige dag gewenst” — [Ern preh-tikh-ge fer-yaar- dakh kher-venst]. This conveys that you are saying, “Wishing you an enjoyable day.”

Saying Happy Birthday To Your Family Members In Dutch

Simply saying, “Happy birthday!” to a person from the Netherlands isn’t common, but it is used in conjunction with other Dutch words or phrases.

For example, “Fijne verjaardag.” — [fine-fer-yaar- dakh] translates to “Happy birthday,” but is more commonly used to celebrate with family members like so;

Fijne verjaardag, mama — Happy birthday, Mom.
Fijne verjaardag, papa — Happy birthday, Dad.
Fijne verjaardag, oma — Happy birthday, Grandma.
Fijne verjaardag, opa — Happy birthday, Grandpa.

Wishing Happy Birthday To Close Friends

The following Dutch birthday greetings and wishes are appropriate for your closest friends and are even great ideas to write in a birthday card! Writing these birthday well-wishes on a card will also allow you to write in Dutch.

Ik wens u gezond en succesvol leven vooruit. Gelukkige Verjaardag!! Geniet van uw speciale dag!! -[Ick-vens-u-gchzond-an- success-vol-lve-voo-reich. kher-luh-kikh-ge fer-yaar- dakh.] This means, “I wish you a healthy and successful life ahead. Happy birthday! Enjoy your special day!”

Rozen zijn rood, viooltjes zijn blauw, alles wat ik wil zeggen is Gelukkige Verjaardag aan u! -{Ro-zen-zien-route-vee-otes-sien-blaou-all-is-vat-ick-vil-zegken-is-kher-luh-kikh-ge-fer-yaar- dakh-han-oo } This is a cute poem that translates to, “Roses are red, violets are blue, All I want to say is Happy birthday to you!”

Ik wens u heel veel liefde en geluk op je verjaardag. Gelukkige Verjaardag partner! -[Ick-vens-u-feel-lead-de-in-ge-luk-op — ge-fer-yaar- dakh. Kher-luh-kikh-ge-fer-yaar- dakh-part-ner] “I wish you lots of love and happiness on your birthday. Happy birthday friend!”

Ik hoop dat je van je nieuwe tijd. Gefeliciteerd mijn vriend!! -[Ick-hope-dat-ge-van-ge-nee-u-ew-jite. Ghe-fu-lu- si- teert-mein-freend] “I hope you love your new time. Happy birthday my friend!”

How To Respond To Happy Birthday Wishes In Dutch

When it’s time for your birthday, many people and friends will wish you a happy birthday in Dutch, and you’ll receive many congratulations. So how do you politely respond? Here are a few phrases with pronunciation that you can use to reply to all your birthday wishes in the Netherlands:

Hartelijk dank voor de goedewensen- [har-ta-luck-dank-voor-de-hood-da-ven-sen]Thank you very much for the good wishes.
Hartelijk bedankt — [har-ta-luck buh-dankt] A heartfelt thank you.
Dank u — [dank u] Thank you!

What Is the Dutch Birthday Song?

As with many western cultures, singing a birthday song is a tradition in the Netherlands. You will attend many birthday celebrations, including your own, and it will be great if you can join in the happy birthday song in Dutch!

How To Sing Happy Birthday In Dutch?

Here are two of the more popular Dutch birthday songs:

Lang zal hij/ze leven
Lang zal hij/ze leven,
Lang zal hij/ze leven,
Lang zal hij/ze leven,
In de Gloria,
In de Gloria,
In de Gloria,
Hip, hip, hip, hoera!
Hip, hip, hip, hoera!
Hip, hip, hip, hoera!

Translation

Long shall he/she live (3x)
In the Gloria (3x)

Turn Up The Volume! Listen And Learn How To Sing Happy Birthday in Dutch

This Is Another Well-liked Dutch Birthday Song

Er is er een jarig hoera-hoera
Dat kun je wel zien dat is hij/zij.
Wij vinden het allen zo prettig ja-ja,
En daarom zingen wij blij:
Hij/zij leve lang hoera-hoera,
Hij/zij leve la-ang hoera.